Focus on tests pays off for some districts

The release of state test results today is a victory for some Rock River Valley schools, a disheartening setback for others.

The release of state test results today is a victory for some Rock River Valley schools, a disheartening setback for others.

Success stories include Haskell Year-Round Academy, which, for the first time, met the increasingly elusive target for satisfactory progress under federal law.

A focus on teaching to state learning standards paid off elsewhere as well. Schools making progress targets in consecutive years included Jackson, Swan Hillman and Barbour in Rockford; Central Middle School and Lincoln Elementary in Belvidere; and the districts of Winnebago and Freeport.

And three Rockford elementary schools — Thompson, Gregory and Lewis Lemon — were among the top six most improved in the Rock River Valley.

But more schools in the region may face state and federal sanctions for poor performance. The number of schools that failed to hit targets increased to 39 in 2007, 11 more than last year.